India: Factories move to continue despite protests

Protests by farmers will not deter India’s communists from clearing farms to build factories in eastern India, a top official said, hours after a policeman was killed by demonstrators near the site of a proposed industrial park.

Plans by the communist-led government of West Bengal to acquire thousands of acres of farmland for projects such as a car factory and a petrochemical plant have repeatedly provoked violent protests, raising concerns that foreign investors could be scared off.

The demonstrations have also sparked a national debate about taking farmland for factories in India, where about two-thirds of the population live off agriculture.

The federal government last month temporarily put on hold plans for scores of so-called Special Economic Zones meant to attract foreign investors with generous tax breaks.

“All over the world investors are watching,” West Bengal’s Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, told The Associated Press in an interview.

“If I roll back in Singur or Nandigram” – rural districts of West Bengal that have become flash points for protests – “we will never be able to again raise our heads,” he said.